A night that began with Wayne Valley honoring its former stars ended with the wrestlers of today beating a longtime rival. The No. 9-ranked Indians dug out of an early hole to knock off Wayne Hills 36-20 in a fierce Alumni Night match Wednesday night. After falling behind early on, the home team turned the meet around with four straight wins in the upper weights.

"It was a great match," coach Todd Schroeder said. "We knew that they would be coming for us. They're much, much improved. They have a great team."

Schroeder was among dozens of wrestlers recognized before the match. The sixth-year coach was a state medalist and once held the school wins record before going on to wrestle for James Madison. Though his current team wasn't able to score a blowout win it hoped for, the upper weights were still able to swing the match and continue an impressive season. Reid Colella, Danny Murphy, Nick Trani and Jordan Botero picked up four wins in a row from 182 to 285.

"That's one of our strong suits," Trani said. "We all have experience so when we get down, we know it's not over."

What it means

The Battle of Wayne could pick up steam in the next few seasons. It hasn't been much of a contest in recent years with Wayne Valley winning the last five matchups by an average of 32 points and usually finishing near the top of Passaic County. But No. 19 Wayne Hills didn't go down easily Wednesday night with Aidan Broderick (120) sparking the lower weights.

"They're going to be good for a while," Schroeder said. "It's going to be an exciting (rivalry) over the next few years."

Key bout

Murphy's 10-7 win at 195 pounds over Gabe Dellachiaie of Wayne Hills was pivotal. The Indians were up just 15-14 during the match and saw Dellachiaie get a takedown in the opening 30 seconds. Murphy tied it up after one and went up 7-4 after the second period. After giving back the lead to start the third, Murphy then delivered the winning takedown with about a minute to go.

"I wanted to show what I'm really about this time," Murphy said. "I stayed in it, even though he got the first takedown on me. I was unfazed and got right back at it."

Those two also met in December at the Parsippany Tournament finals with Murphy winning by decision, 5-3.

"He's a grinder," Schroeder said. "He's a three-sport athlete and he doesn't like to lose. He's a competitor and he's getting better every day in the wrestling room."

They said it

"We look at every match the same. It doesn't matter what their name is or what singlet they are wearing. You got to wrestle you're best. Whether you wrestle a good kid or bad kid, you have to wrestle the same way every time." –Trani